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Rise of Darkness (Alvis & Malicious Lullaby)

Where in this world did that come from? And the award for the most embarrassing moment goes to Ewyn Conal, who apparently forgot the function of her brain enough that she was clearly talking like she had become suddenly possessed! With a deep sigh, her eyes fluttered closed to the feel of his lips against her forehead. Well that gave the answer away rather quickly and clearly before he even spoke. She resolved with just a simple smile and nodded her head before expectantly leaning up for that kiss goodbye, thankfully one he was willing to give. After he left, Ewyn sat back and took a moment to compose herself and let her energy bubble up so she was vibrating at a high enough frequency, to block out that little stab of disappointment. She wasn’t one of those girls. No, she was a mage-in-training. She didn’t get all sad or nostalgic over a…man. Even if it was Faryn.

After a small huff, she stood and collected her things before walking out of the Inn altogether and stopped by to pick up the package that she had been sent to the village for in the first place. It was ready, thankfully and she thanked the merchant before setting off on her way. She had almost begun to start actually walk out of the village when she remembered she hadn’t walked there in the first place. So where was that lovely horse with the blue-fire for a mane and tail?
 
As she thought of it, there was a burst of flame on the road, and a piercing neigh. In mid rear, the horse that had brought her to town appeared. As it dropped back down, several of the village people looked at it a little fearfully. The horse moved to Ewyn's side, and even knelt down, letting her mount easily. Once she was on, it stood easily enough, and began to pick it's way along the road, the same smooth, even ride that she had received before. And it made excellent time.

Yoristan looked at the viewing crystal, and felt the tugging of the horse being called back. A surprisingly restful night, even with the vampire visiting him. He'd resealed the wards, and only regretted that he'd learned less than he had hoped. The vampire had been resourceful, adn able to flee the dreamscape before too much was prised out of him. But had a little information, which was more than he had before. And his power was back at full capacity, even a little more than before. Power was like a muscle, it got stronger the more it was used. And yesterday had been a lot of heavy lifting. And now Ewyn was making her way back. A bit later than he'd expected, but he had the assumption that something had kept her attention. Or someone. She was of an age for such afterall. He began to make his way downstairs to greet her.

The tower grounds looked different. Large stones were set out, and they fairly buzzed with power. Small mounds had ben raised, as though something was buried since the last time she'd been here. But the tower itself remained unchanged. As the horse reached the path to the entrance, it crouched to allow Ewyn to dismount before vanishing in that puff of smoke once more. Yoristan had a half smile on his face.
"Welcome back. You're late." He said lightly.
 
A soft gasp came from her as she turned and watched the horse descend to her, her eyes widening. She was never at all disappointed by the magic of magic or the fact that this horse just came out of nowhere. What triggered? She’d have to ask Master Gall about that at some point, but instead, she mounted the horse and looked about the village, a pleasant smile on her face. She waved to the town before the horse took her away, she leaning forward a bit before it picked up speed and stroked its mane.

The ride was pleasant, smooth and definitely not bumpy at all. It was a nice day out, the breeze cool but not too cool but neither was it really hot out. She was comfortable the entire time really. She imagined this is what it would have felt like to ride a dragon...smooth sailing.
Upon arriving back to the tower, she hopped off the horse and turned to say a final goodbye to it when it had already vanished. She nearly grumbled. Not again. Righting her half cape, she also righted the satchel she did carry with her and smiled to Master Gall, although her smile was quickly wiped from her face by his version of welcoming her back.

Instead, she smiled a half smile, more like an ‘oops’ of a smile and shrugged her shoulders lightly. “We hit some little troubles…I guess I slept in further than I should have but, Master Gall, I needed to. There were creatures and from what Faryn told me, I made a big boom, but I don’t even remember. And then there was blood!” The look on her face spoke of horror, Ewyn being over dramatic once more but probably for once right to do so. It was scary. She’d never fainted before.
 
Yoristan frowned as she spoke.
"I'm not unreasonable, and it sounds as though you've a tale to tell. Come inside. I'll need to hear it in detail." He waved her in. His jaw clenched. He might not have as much time as he had wanted. If things were moving in the forest already, and they were connected, then there was all manner of terror and death on approach to the area. And he might not have the time or resources to deal with it. He led Ewyn up to the sitting room, and waved that she should be seated.

"Now. Tell me what happened. And leave nothing out. I'll explain hat I can, and see what we can piece together about what came after you." He said with a nod. Business. It was always that in the end. The business of magic.
 
A look of incredulous came over her face, eyes bugging out wide and her hands resting on her hips. She didn’t vocalize it but it was clear she did have a lot to tell him. So if he was going to tease her or start to berate her for being late, well he was going to swallow all of that once he heard her very true tale. Walking inside, she took her satchel off as well as her half cape and sat down up in the sitting room with him. Now was her moment. To put on the biggest dramatic act of her life. Put some humor into a not so funny story. “It all started with a Boulder Troll…” She recounted her experience with accompanying Faryn on his quest to return a Boulder Troll back to his home, how she met a cute, little, adorable one and decided she was going to keep it, but obviously didn’t take the little critter. Ewyn decided rather wisely to skip over the more explicit details, figuring Master Gall wouldn’t want to hear that, instead explaining they ventured a little ways out, took their time returning back to the Inn, but took too long of a time as it turned out.

”Then there was this keening wail and it made us both freeze. Out of nowhere, this creature with claws, sharp teeth with this green goo dripping from it—which I assumed to be incredibly fatal in case it wasn’t poisonous—came out of nowhere. But then…I don’t know, maybe it was the fear or the adrenaline rush that made it happen but when it tried to attack us, it rebounded. I didn’t realize it then but I put up a shield apparently, enough to protect both Faryn and me. Then he grabbed me and he began to run and I kept up the shield as the one creature started chasing us, but it got worse as more heeded to the call and swarm after us as well. Faryn got so exhausted from running while carrying me and in that moment, while the shield protected us, they were all coming so fast, running towards us as if they had some unfinished business. It was terrifying. Next thing I know, I’m lying on the ground, blood came from my nose and I felt unbelievably drained.” She said softly. “I don’t remember doing it Master Gall. All I remember before I blacked out was a lot of energy gathering, like my entire body was vibrating or pounding and then everything went black.” She looked actually startled by this.

“He said I projected some sort of boom or rebound that pushed all the scary creatures away, to the very edges of the forests they came out of, giving us ample time to hurry back to the Inn. That’s why I am late. I slept extra because it was like all my energy was sapped from me.” Because she used it. She took that moment of silence after her story to look at him, to take a good look at her teacher. He seemed tired, yet well rested but a lot more tired. “You’ve been putting up more wards, haven’t you? Is this because of that nightmare? Is there…” She swallowed a little uneasily. “Something bad brewing out there that calls for such extraneous wards?”
 
Yoristan listened to everything that she said, even going so far as to extend a touch of energy to her, nothing invasive mind, but something that would resonate under any kind of untruth. He caught a glimmer, the kind that came from something being omitted, but Yoristan was smart enough to fill in that particular gap. The Boulder Trolls lived near a rather famous hot spring. Ewyn and a young man going around there...it wasn't hard to figure out what they might have been up to if she didn't want to fill in the gaps. Once she started talking about magic, he clued in more pronoucedly. It seemed to ba a good thing that he'd given her the shield ring. He waited until she'd finished speaking before talking.

"The ring I gave you. It helps you channel your energy. Once you knew how to make a shield, it was able to react with your instincts. Fear is a powerful motivator." He said calmly, thinking over what she was saying. Magic like hers had a great deal to do with instinct. Once even partly taught how to use it, the mind could kick the door open, and more and more power could end up flooding forth. THis was something they'd have to get a handle on quickly. But to use a shield offensively...thatwas not common magic, nor easily attainable. He'd learned teh art himself, but even so, was barely a praticioner of the art. Enough to give someone a grounding, sure, but he was not an abjurer by nature. Ewyn might be. A good complement to his style of magic to be honest. He noted that she had a parcel, and got it from her. His book, and a sheaf of papers addressed to him. He opened them, finding the careful script odd to see. No one in the village that he knew wrote like this. And then there was a charcoal rendition of the attackers. His heart sank.

"You detonated your shield. And not knowing how to protect yourself from potential back-blast, it knocked the stuffing out of you. And not haivng done it before, or properly, it likely taxed your energy. Hence the nose bleed." He turned the pisture to her, adn showed the picture of the creature. "These were what attacked you?" He sighed as she confirmed it. "Ghouls. Excellent. Just what we needed." He put his face in his hands. He looked her in the eye. "Something is coming this way. I don't know exactly what it is, but it's going to be bad. I'm not taking chances. So I've called up heavier wards, set up a few surprises. If you wanted to head back to the academy until this blows over, I wouldn't blame you."
 
Ewyn looked at him and it was clear the worry edged on her face quite obviously. She saw it on his face and if she was piecing things together properly, it made sense. A nightmare occurred which made him put up extensive wards, then another almost accident occurred where creatures tried to kill her and Faryn. More occurrences of something dark and twisted than had been accounted for and she made sure to hear all the juicy news. Which is why she was putting her foot in where it might not necessarily be needed but she owed a lot to Master Gall. She wanted to help in any way she could, if she could, if she was allowed.

As he explained what exactly could have and might have happened, she nodded her head in understanding. It made sense. Fear was a powerful motivator and she hadn’t know she was doing it the entire time until it happened. That was the scary part though. Her lack of awareness. That she was so used to conjuring up so much energy, she didn’t know when it was actually being put to use. It was a little bit scary of what was bubbling up there. But she was more terrified of what could be happening right now, of all she had to learn otherwise she’d be incredibly useless to her teacher. He couldn’t do it on his own. Yes, he was this great mage with unbelievable power but everyone needed help at some point. She didn’t want anything to happen to him. He was her teacher.

She saw what he took from her satchel, the book as well as some letters. Huh? When did those get in there? Oh goodness, she hoped he wouldn’t find the one that Faryn did of her. She’d be embarrassed. Not that it was anything to be embarrassed about, but that was an image of her that Faryn captured. She wasn’t sure how she’d feel about anyone else seeing that. Seeing her as anything more than she was comfortable with. Oof. “I…detonated my shield? What does that mean?” She asked, not at all understanding. She had been trying to do something else, something else she read up on. But she ended up detonating her shield?

She jumped a little bit when she saw the picture and covered her face, spreading her fingers to see through them before shutting them, nodding her head. That horrendous thing, it was a wonder she hadn’t had nightmares! Her hands dropped into her lap and she sighed deeply, in all seriousness now and that was the scarier part. “What? No, I don’t want to go back.” She said it so quickly too, as if it was the stupidest and most preposterous idea ever. “I don’t want to go back. I won’t leave your side Master Gall. I’ll be here and I’ll do anything I can. No more slacking off, I will make you proud and show you I can be a formidable alliance in these burgeoning dark times. I promise. I won’t fail you.”
 
Toristan sighed, but smiled. She had courage, he'd give her that much. Damn stupid of her really, but then he'd probably be saying the same thing in her shoes. So all in all, he had t admit, they might have chosen well when they sent her to him as a student. He looked her right in the eye.
"I'm holding you to that promise Ewyn. Because make no mistake, if I'm even half right, this isn't going to be a little scuffle. I've emptied the armoury, called in a lot of favours, and prepared this place to a large degree. But if you do fall short, let me down, you will most likely die here." He paused, letting that sink in. "There is no shame in heading out before the storm breaks. I'll ask you again in the morning, after you've had a chance to think about it. And remember that these?" He held up the picture. "There will be many of them. And they will be amongst some of the least of the horrors that may be coming down on us."
 
Well wasn’t he just blunt. She swallowed hard and let the information sink in, soaking up all that he was really saying and she bit her lower lip, chewed on it really and nodded her head slowly. Truth was, it was terrifying, especially with how he was laying it all out but if she was being even more honest with herself? She didn’t need to think about it. She didn’t need to take the day and give him a truer and proper answer tomorrow. No, she knew her answer. “I have thought about it Master Gall. I’m terrified, and while I am that terrified, especially of those…Ghouls as you call them, I know where I’m staying. Here, with you. I pray to the Gods, I don’t fail you. I won’t fail you. It’s not an option. And that’s my answer, my decision and I am not going to go back on my word. I never do. I never have. I won’t start now.”
 
Yoristan bit back his instant reply about how the young were free with such promises. Never was a very very long time. But he took what she'd said at face value. Frankly having a budding abjurer on hand might be disproportionately helpful. She could seal off sections of the battle, help keep things out of play before they had a chance to realy become a problem. But that all precluded her having a better handle on her power than she did now. Fortunately, that was something he could help her with. He'd planned to ease her into things, give her good grounding in theory, help her along. But she was going to have to start attending the school of hard knocks and bruises. And soon.

"Make no mistake Ewyn. Bad is coming, adn I don't know how much time we have. So I'm going to be running you through the wringer. I'll be showing you things that I didn't plan on showing you. And I won't have the time to be gentle about it. You might hate me very shortly. But I don't want you to be stuck trying to fight without adequate weapons. So. Get yourself ready. And then come find me on the top floor. We need to refine your shields. And see about getting you to detonate them on your own." He stood. "See you soon." He swept up the stairs, and unsealed the uppermost chamber. The ritual circle blazed with light as he stepped into it. He let out his breath. Time for a long day.
 
Maybe she was foolish for not taking the time to think it through, to really mull over the potential consequences that could come from this. That if she wasn’t properly trained now, it could really be detrimental to her life and Master Gall’s. That whatever was out there, it was a bigger threat than even he anticipated and after all, he wasn’t a superhero. He was still only human with knowledge and skills that far superseded that of the average human being but he was still only one man. She wanted to help him, do whatever she could and reach her highest and fullest potential as well. And they had a reason now to really start some rigorous training. No more little basics here and there. Now it was crunch time. She knew full well the consequences, that she could very likely die, most likely actually die, but at least she’d die for something rather than go back to the Academy, live a full life and always wonder, ‘What if?’

A smile came to Ewyn’s face, as if he was pushing a challenge right into her hands. Oh, Master Gall, well played. Since when could she ever refuse a challenge? Her smile turned into a grin. “I expect nothing less from you Master Gall. I’d be disappointed otherwise.” She stood as well after he did and left and returned to her room. She changed out of her clothes, into something less fancy, something a lot less constricting and skimped out on a corset. She didn’t need one, she put on a bodice instead which hurt less than a corset and the dress she wore didn’t have as low of a plunging neckline like her other ones did. With boots on and feeling like she was heavily armored, she walked out of her room and went to the top floor where Master Gall would be waiting. She still wasn’t used to the damn stairs.

After stumbling off, she walked up to the door and pounded on them, all big and forceful like. Ewyn was ready. She was as ready as she was ever going to be. She couldn’t turn back now. She'd made her bed. Now she was going to jump on it to reach the highest level she was capable of.
 
Yoristan waved a hand, and the door swung open. He nodded as he saw She'd put on boots. That was good. Stable footing was more than a little important in a fight. He'd been gentle. But now it was time to put on some pressure.
"Raise your shield." He said calmly, raising his hand. He called a small dome of blue energy ontot he floor. "This is a low end barrier. I thought I might illustrate what you managed to do by accident. As you can see, the shield is in place, ready to take a hit. But if one was to detonate it..." As he spoke, the dome rushed out with a popping sound, dust swirling away. As the field touched both Yoristan and Ewyn, the was enough to make their clothes flutter. "The more power that you put into the shield, the more damage that you can inflict when you detonate it. So. Let's get you started." He stepped around her shield to be beside her. Her shield glowed a bright white, pure energy making a solid bulwark. "Picture it like your arms. Your arms are held up to shield your face from harm. It keeps you safe. But then...you see an openeing. Focus on the shield. Picture it in your mind like a clenched fist. Now throw that punch forward."
 
Walking right in, Ewyn spread her hands over the length of her dress before they decided to rest right at her side. Taking a moment, she surveyed her surroundings before her gaze landed on Master Gall. As he spoke the first command, she clenched her hands together at her side, as if by instinct and harnessed her energy. She thought of that fence but then she thought back to yesterday with Faryn. Not their intimate time although that did resurface in her mind at first thought of the man but rather to their danger, the creature that howled a keening, piercing sound and the moment it jumped out in front of them, making its presence known. A glow of white surrounded her instantly, as if she saw the Ghoul directly in front of her and it made her heart beat faster than normal. She breathed deeply through her nose and exhaled slowly through her mouth.

Her gaze left the void of space in front of her where she imagined the Ghoul to be and she looked to Master Gall, her shield strengthening. He explained just exactly what had happened, how she had made her shield bound out, willing it out by some extraordinary power she didn’t even remember. Did she really do that? Was she capable of it? She clenched her hands together tighter and pushed more energy into her shield, fueling it. Her arms lifted, feeling the weight of carrying such strength and she inhaled deeply through her nose again. With that cool exhale through her mouth, her hands opened and she pushed her arms out a bit, feeling the rush of energy and air swim past her and out, punching it out, pushing it out and even though it wasn’t nearly as big as what she did yesterday, it left her feeling tired all of a sudden.

Ewyn’s shoulders hunched down and her arms dangled at her sides and she slid down to her knees but didn’t keel over. She held herself up and rest one hand on the ground. Oof, this was going to be most difficult, that’s for sure. Harnessing so much energy and pushing it. She couldn’t nearly imagine how Master Gall did all that he did and so efficiently either. But she was going to push herself. So she did and pushed herself to stand, ready for whatever more he threw at her now. “Like that?” She asked once slightly recovered.
 
The shield detonated with a hollow boom, reverberating around the room. The echoes made Yoristan nod. It was a good sign. But the way she sagged...it was not unexpected, not uncommon. She'd spent a long time training to try and keep herself controlled. It was a decent starting point, but she wasn't going to have the luxury of doing this gently. It was going to be a long few days.
"Again. And hold it longer, build the pressure up in the shield for a longer time. That blast would probably knock over a medium sized man. But you're going to have to do more than that to be a force on the battlefield. Once you can detonate effectively, then we'll start on making it more dangerous." He explained, pacing behind her, his mind working through the patterns to try and get a good analysis of the magic she was doing. Basic, crude, adn entirely expected for one of her mastery level. The fact that she was able to detonate was an excellent sign. He'd whip her into a combat mage yet.
 
Somehow, Ewyn got the distinct impression that Master Gall was going to show his real asshole colors about all of this. He hadn’t been kidding at all when he said he wasn’t going to be easy on her, wasn’t going to be as nice as he had been say when she had that ‘nightmare’ and wouldn’t take it easy or slowly. No, it was going to be fast, quick and regardless of the fact she wouldn’t have enough energy or not, he was going to make her do it. Silly thing? She was going to do it too. With that big of a threat looming over them, it didn’t matter to her if her nose was pouring with blood and she could barely stand. Ewyn was going to push herself. Everyday since that ‘nightmare’ she felt she had even more to prove just because of how easily susceptible she had been. She had this idea in her head that no ‘protégé of Master Gall’ would ever be so easy.

As he spoke, her hands clenched together tightly, a shield surrounded her once again and she focused, once more harnessing the fear and spike of adrenaline rush she had felt the day before, once more imagining the Ghoul in front of her. This time though, she imagined three more just like it, surrounding her evenly and all of them were about to pounce, shred her with their venom-soaked-dripping claws and maul her flesh away until she was unrecognizable.

Ewyn closed her eyes, took a deep breath through her nose and then exhaled smoothly from her mouth. With a step, her hands unclenched and it was enough energy gathered to be an almost equivalent blow from yesterday. It made her hair flurry and be freed from the green ribbon, she felt the exertion on her body as she let go and she envisioned the ghouls being rebounded away from her as the blow hit away and onto everything else around them. It was exhausting, but this time she didn’t let herself fall, no matter how hard it was to just stand on her two feet.
 
Yoristan watched as her shield detonated, the blast moving away from her in a fairly well seeming blast. But it wasn't enough, adn he knew it. A cursory check of her magical aura showed that it was different from when she had left. The blast she had released had strained something in her Gift, and the Gift was trying to recover itself. By pushing her like this, it was forcing hte Gift to expand, to make room. It was going to let her grow stronger. And she would need that most desperately.
"Better. Not enough. You might be able to scatter a few adversaries, but they'll come back, and you can barely stand from two blasts. Summon it again." He said calmly. He could feel the determination rolling off of her, as well as what could be described as frustration, maybe even anger. And he knew that it was at least partly his fault. He leaned a little closer to her.

"Harder than you're used to? Take that anger. That frustration. Pour it all into the shield, let it grow. Sharpen your will. Don't strike to knock someone back. Strike at them as though you meant to shatter their bones to dust. Strike hard now Ewyn. You're nearly there." He murmured to her.
 
It was enough. It was an improvement but an improvement wasn’t going to help Master Gall try to hold the fort down. Or rather, the tower. She took in deep breaths, taking them in through her nose and exhaling them out of her mouth. It helped a lot, mostly to keep her vision accurate and her body from wanting to keel. Oh, she wanted to sit down desperately, it felt like she was using extra strength just to stay standing. But Ewyn didn’t complain. Her anger and her frustration level probably skyrocketed but that was to be expected. She was tired already, getting angry that it wasn’t enough, mostly at herself, and getting incredibly cranky. But he was helping to make her harness her anger. Saying that she could barely stand from two blasts alone, that was almost a tipping point. Almost. Her determination didn’t wane. It only solidified.

Ewyn processed what he spoke, harnessed her anger, every ounce of it. The anger from not being able to give her all, the anger from yesterday’s near death, the anger and frustration from years in her studies during the times she couldn’t nail something or understand as easy as she normally could, every ounce of anger she had, letting it bubble into this shield, letting it build up. She could feel just how exerting it was but she held on, letting it build up to the very precise point. Her hands were clenched at her sides and then she unclenched but it didn’t release. She raised her hands and her arms, feeling the weight of the energy try to weigh it all down.

Then she released but it wasn’t something instant. Not an instant boom. It was one that continued. One boom, and then another, further pushing, further slicing through and she made it keep going. Five booms, each one further and stronger. She tried to push for a sixth one when a drop of blood slid down and out of her nose and stained her dress. But she still pushed. A sixth boom. She wanted a seventh. But then there was more drops of blood.
 
The blassts were coming faster and harder, and Yoristan did begin to brace himself, to prepare to intervene if she pushed herself too hard. And then she started to. The blood from her nose wasn't the worst sign that he could think of, but when she summoned another blast beyond that, he dropped a hand on her shoulder, a simple spell passing into her, one that would just for a moment clear her mind. It was made to make sure she couldn't accidently summon another hit.
"Easy now. Well done." He raised a hand, and a chair rose from the floor, and he eased her down into it. He stood before her then, and offered her a cloth for her nose. "Take a few deep breaths. Let the magic in the air soak into you. Let it fill you back up." He could see her aura shift again, her Gift nearly crying out from the abuse levelled onto it. And what was more, he intended to do worse to it yet.

"Let's try something easier than detonating your shield." He smiled at her, glad she was getting the hang of this so quickly. "Imagine that fence again. But now, instead of the wooden planks...imagine that those planks are lined with nails, and spikes, and other sharp implements. Build the shield to look like that now."
 
There was a small bit of victory in there for her that was slightly short lived because all she felt suddenly was her pulse pounding through every part of her body. Her chest—obviously—her forehead, her legs, her hands. It felt like her hands and arms had that tingling feeling when you press down on the nerves too long. So did her legs. She’d been so close to that seventh boom, felt it nearly about to radiate off of her fingertips when she felt a hand on her shoulder which made her instantly calm down, as if he just pulled the plug on her energy. Her shield dropped, her hands and arms fell down at her sides and she felt her body start to fall back. It wasn’t falling. She was being eased back into sitting in a chair she hadn’t known was there, neither did it occur to her that he summoned it and took the cloth he offered her to wipe her nose.

Her breathing came more shallow, slower, even and not fast pants. As she took in deep breaths, in through her nose, out through her mouth, the pounding all through her body faded and she felt like she returned to some semblance of normal. She held the cloth to her nose so if any more blood wanted to drip, it could and not on her dress. Looking up at Master Gall, she nodded her head and then tilted it to the side. “So you want my shield to look from the outside like it has all those sharp objects? Ouch.” But she grinned because if she got to detonate that…Oh that’d be a bloody field day, for sure!
 
Yoristan gave a bit of a smile.
"If done right, it would only hurt for a moment. Then they would be dead. That trick you were using, detonating and rebuilding your shield rapidly...that can be a very effective tool. Just bear in mind how taxing it is. It should not be the mainstay of your tactics. But work on your shield. Work on making it more lethal, more vicious. Once you have that down, I'll begin to teach you other tricks you can use to win fights." He promised. And it was no less than the trusth. A single detonating shield was a very powerful tool, more than most at her level. But some simple, refined options to attack and kill enemies would be needed. He would keep things simple with her, and let her elaborate and explore her options at her own pace.
 
She gave a mock pout. “Aw, and here I was thinking it would hurt them a lot and make them die a slow and painful death. Seems fitting since they are trying to shake the balance of all that is peaceful.” She might have a slight morbid ideal when it came to defeating evil enemies but only because she was a firm believer that if it was evil, it should suffer just as much as it made the good, pure and innocent suffer. But that was just Ewyn.

Nodding her head though, she gave her nose one last wipe and saw no more trace of blood. Good, she didn’t quite relish having a constant bleeding nose. She looked to Master Gall and sighed softly. “Shall I try making a far more lethal shield now?” She made to stand, her legs a little bit shaky that she grabbed the back of the chair but kept herself standing, moving behind it, leaning on it for a bit of extra support, for the moment, while she was regaining her composure and equilibrium back completely.
 
Yoristan nodded to her, but spoke carefully.
"Be careful with an outlook like that Ewyn. If we visit the horrors that the darkness visits on others to them, what separates us from them? If you become what you fight, what are you?" He asked idly. "Being a mage will be more than just using power. It's about knowing when that power should be used, and why it should be used. But that comes with time. Show me your more lethal shield." He nodded to her as he spoke the last. Fast teaching. Fast enough to be useful he hoped.

The vampire was sitting on the ground beneath a shroud of darkness that he'd called into being. His companions were around him, and they were mustering. A long way to go before they reach the target tower. But they'd make it soon enough, and in that time, he would ensure that his followers were able to move and fight in the coming conflict. A small war was coming for Yoristan Gall and his apprentice.
 
Ewyn looked at him and she nodded her head. Well of course, and while he did make a good point, she wasn’t about to go look for trouble just to solve it. No, but she was a firm believer that if it was evil and it was doing evil things, someone had to step up to defend. But to give it back ten fold. Not pay it forward, just give them back a dose of their own medicine. She was about defending in a way she could without it compromising who she was as an apprentice mage. That much she always knew. That and her father always liked to tell her horror stories about real mages who lived long ago, brilliant—mostly—men who could do extraordinary things and changed the lives of many humans, changed the minds of many humans. But they were also stories about powerful mages who were once of peace but turned to darkness, succumbed to its temptation and brought terror to the entire world. Those stories brought terror to her sleep and dreams. And it was something she always thought about so she didn’t lose sight of herself. “Doing so would be turning into my own nightmare Master Gall. And I think I’ve had enough nightmares, I’d hate for them to come true.”

Standing, she pushed the chair back and set down the cloth stained with her blood. She took her stance once more where she had done so before and drew in a deep breath, while drawing in her shield, holding her hands up at her sides. Rather than holding them in fists, they were more like she was trying to make claws, as if she was hoping for her nails to grow all beastly. She imagined what he said to, imagined a more ferocious fence with spikes, nails, glass shards, anything possibly harmless, even barbed wire, all surrounding her, protecting her like she was about ready to project it off to cause some real pain. She was about to bring some real hurt now. The sharpness kept fading in and out though, something she couldn’t properly bring forth without a little oomph. She took a step and pushed a bit and it was like they suddenly appeared then, arming her, allowing her to use as defense, as if they were her weapons. She projected shards of glass off with such a force, they stuck hard into the walls and didn’t even shatter.

Ewyn pushed more off, barbed wires embedding themselves deeply into the wall, spikes impaling the surface of walls before the rest started to turn into forms of cracks and splinters, signs of a weakening shield, a further weakening Ewyn. She dropped the shield and braced her hands onto her knees. “That is so much harder to do. Concentrating on different things, rather than just one full boom.” She groaned now.
 
"Mental multitasking, it's how do our best work. You haven't had the ractice and training to be able to keep a shield in your subconscious. Eventually it'll be second nature to you. But yes, until then it'll be a challenge." Yoristan waved a hand as he spoke, a demonstration shield appearing on the floor, maybe a foot across. It looked for all the world like a dome of solid iron. As it sat, large iron spike emerged, making a vicious looking implement. Even then, it wasn't done, as the spikes themselves changed, lines of smaller spikes in spiraling patterns appeared along the spikes, making htem barbed, looking as though they'd do as much tearing as they did piercing. "Imagination and creativity is one of the strongest assets a mage can possess. WHile the more elaborate constructs like this are more taxing...the benefits far outweigh the loss."

"Keep working on the shields for now. I'm going to check if there's anything in the armoury that you might be able to use without risking yourself." He told her, a hand on her shoulder. He head down the stairs, leaving her to her work. In a way, it was a good statement that he trusted her to keep working without supervision.

The armoury was not what most expected at the name. Not rows of weapons and armour, shields and barrels of arrows. While there were a few smaller racks with traditional weaponry, it was mostly populated with wands. A row that held various staves. Books. Scrolls. Even a few rings. He hesitated over one of the rings. It was a rare and potent item, and it would give Ewyn a much more impressive pool of power to draw on for her lower level magics like the shield. He pocketed it, thinking. He lifted a staff. It was a good focus that would further ease the amount of power she needed to do her work. And it had the advantage of being a large oak stick that could be helpful to bludgeon a person with if needed. The two things ought be enough for now. He made his way back up the stairs.
 
Ewyn became quite amazed by how effortlessly Master Gall was able to summon his shield in the way he did, how he armed it with spikes that looked barbed even, a shield to prove quite deadly for anyone who wanted to haul themselves at in an attack. She wanted to build a shield like that, not exactly like it of course but one that was lethal enough that no one would dare to try to attack and if they did, it would mean a painful death. If deserving of course. She wasn’t about to go kill the world. No, it was a clear point of horror stories hearing about mages who turned so bad, they nearly wrought the end of the world. Well, the end of a peaceful world that is.

After he left, she took a gander around before she decided to start working on her newly armored shield, configuring it to a way that would benefit her. She took her stance, arms at her sides but up and bent at the elbow, hands open and with a step, she produced the white fog around her before testing out different things, imagining different spikes, armoring it. She imagined spikes all around it with little ones covering the blank surface spots, so that the entire thing was covered in spikes. When she pushed one hand a little forward, a spike started to push from the shield, as if ready to project out and she smiled to herself before bringing her hand back in, the spike that was ready to project out moving back in. She wanted to practice projecting the spikes out, start getting used to harnessing that level of energy but as she heard footsteps coming back, she brought her hands down and her shield disappeared away.

Turning, she greeted Master Gall upon his return when she saw him come back with a staff, a mighty looking one that she was a bit eager to get her hands on. That and she liked ‘presents.’ “Is that for me?” A big smile soon spread onto her face.
 
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